Oct. 16, 2009
Complete Results | Complete Results 
MADISON, Wis. -- The competition against the Iowa Hawkeyes certainly brought a rowdy crowd to the Natatorium Friday, but it wasn’t enough to bolster the Wisconsin men’s swimming and diving team to a win, as the Badgers fell to to Iowa, 138-162.
While the loss was the Badgers’ second-consecutive defeat at the hands of the Hawkeyes, there were several impressive performances for UW this time around.
Most notably, junior Chuck Allison helped Wisconsin start the meet off right in the 200-yard medley relay. Allison, along with teammates Derrick O’Donnell, Eric Johnson and Phil Davies beat Iowa by less than a second with a time of 1:32.61 for a first place victory.
Allison also took first in the 100 and 200 butterfly, followed by teammate Kyle Thompson who took second in the 200 and third in the 100. In the last event of the meet, Allison and teammates Phil Davies, Wes Lagerhausen, and Chris Nemeth took second with a time of 3:04.28, falling to Iowa’s winning time of 3:03.24.
In the 200 free, a pivotal point in the meet, freshman Michael Weiss helped the team by taking third place in front of fourth-place finisher and sophomore Brett Nagle.
After the 200 breaststroke, freshman Sam Rowan helped close the score gap, leaving the Badgers behind by only 23 points. Rowan came from behind with 50 yards left to win the race with a time of 2:07.95.
“I’m happy with where we are in terms of depth,” head coach Eric Hansen said, “We have a few holes but, all in all, I’d say we are a better team than we were last week.”
The men’s team continues to grow each week, and has proven to be a very dynamic group with great team chemistry between newcomers who are ready to step in and succeed, as well as veterans from previous seasons.
“As a whole, I was really pleased with how the guys came together,” Hansen said. “Iowa was better than us today, but we’re looking towards the end of the season.
“We’re not going to let anything get in the way of what our ultimate goal is, to be great at the NCAAs and Big Tens.”
